Be the best Race Driver off the GRID in Europe and drive away with a new BMW 3-Series car– for real!

Thursday, 8th May 2008– A brand new BMW 3-Series† car will be the ultimate champion's reward as Codemasters® today revealed an incredible pan-European fastest lap challenge to mark the launch of the Race Driver: GRID™ playable demo for home consoles.

The demo is now available to download from Xbox LIVE® Marketplace for the Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system from Microsoft® and is available later today from the PLAYSTATION®Network for the PLAYSTATION®3 computer entertainment system.

For the game that's all about the race, the Race Driver: GRID™ playable demo delivers intense competition right from the off as gamers compete in single-player GRID World events, 12-player online races and then prove their worth in the white-knuckle Time Trial competition, which is home to the fastest lap challenge. Pitting all console players against each other, it's the Time Trial results that will see one race driver getting the keys to the BMW.

To participate, players submit their fastest final lap time online . Once authenticated, the lap time is then ranked against every other registered time on the online leaderboards. The challenge will end on Friday, 23rd May at midnight, and the top five ranked players will then go on to compete at the European live playoffs to be held on Race Driver: GRID's European launch day– Friday, 30th May– at the zavvi store, Oxford Street, London, where they will compete head-to-head to win the BMW 3-Series– for real. Further details and full terms and conditions are also available from the website.

In addition to the Time Trial challenge, the Race Driver: GRID demo enables players to complete in a trio of GRID World racing showdowns. Take to the wheel of a Ford Mustang GT-R on the streets of San Francisco in the eBay Motors Muscle Cup; in Japan, compete in a Nissan S15 Silvia in the Advan Drift Trophy at Yokohama Docks, while the sweeping curves and hairpins of the Jarama circuit in Spain plays host to the Euro Touring Cars championship featuring BMW 320si touring cars.

For players who want to compete online, the demo delivers 12-player online competitions at the European and U.S. locations.

With a BMW 3-Series car up for grabs, the competition is sure to be fierce from the start, so download the demo and then get revved up for the full aggressive wheel-to-wheel Race Driver: GRID experience, coming May 30th for Xbox 360, the PLAYSTATION 3 system and Games for Windows; a Nintendo DS™ edition of the game is set to launch in June.

†Codemasters reserves the right to replace the stated prize with an alternative prize of equivalent value at its sole discretion.

ABOUT RACE DRIVER: GRID™

Race Driver: GRID is all about the race. Every moment from the adrenalin rush at the start lights to the elation at the chequered flag– the tension, pressure, noise, and action. Featuring only the most powerful race cars– current and classic, circuit and drift– players will compete to conquer the most prestigious official race tracks and championships and then go beyond to compete in challenging city-based competitions, through to road events and urban street races.

In Europe, race prestige marques on the greatest official race circuits. Enter street competitions and race high-performance V8 muscle cars through iconic U.S. cities including San Francisco, Washington DC and Detroit. In the Far East, Japanese racing culture sets the tone where night races, including Drift racing, take drivers through neon illuminated cities and to outlying mountain roads. As the antithesis of the box-ticking, race game, Race Driver: GRID delivers races crammed with action and incident to create the most intense, the most aggressive and the most engrossing racing game for years. Whereas other titles may have lost sight that racing is the main event, in Race Driver: GRID everything builds up to creating an unparalleled race experience.

Codemasters is a leading developer and publisher of best-selling interactive entertainment products for a global audience across multiple gaming platforms and channels. Established in 1986, the company's dominant brands include Colin McRae DiRT, Overlord, Clive Barker's Jericho, Race Driver GRID and Operation Flashpoint. Codemasters is headquartered in Warwickshire UK, with North American operations based in Universal City, Calif. The company also maintains operations in Germany, France, Spain, Benelux and Malaysia. Codemasters receives over two million visitors to its web site every month, discover why at www.codemasters.com

ASK ABOUT GAMES

Codemasters supports askaboutgames.com www.askaboutgames.com - a UK initiative designed to help parents understand the age ratings system for computer and video games so that they can make more informed choices when choosing games for their children.

Codemasters is a registered trademark owned by The Codemasters Software Company. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. "PlayStation", "PLAYSTATION" and "PS" Family logo are registered trademarks of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. Xbox, Xbox 360, Xbox LIVE and Games for Windows are trademarks of the Microsoft group of companies. NINTENDO DS IS A TRADEMARK OF NINTENDO.

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